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SPECIFICTION
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A2J Author

a2jauthor.org

Free plan WebSelf-hosted
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Spec score 8.0 #11 of 29 in Legal Forms Software

What it is

A2J Author lets court, legal services, and law school staff create web-based guided interviews to help self-represented litigants complete court documents. Authors use a graphical flowchart map to arrange dialogue and branching questions. Document tools include a template automator for basic documents and the A2J Document Assembly Tool for creating templates. CALI offers free hosting on A2J.org for interviews and templates intended to assist litigants; organizations can also self-host the A2J Viewer, A2J DAT, and interviews. The system is browser-based, and the project history says version 7.0 opened the source under the GNU Affero General Public License. Authors can create Section 508 and WCAG2-compliant interviews when using the latest Viewer and following the accessibility checklist. The free plan is for legal aid organizations, government entities, courts, and other nonprofits using the software non-commercially, with a registered and authenticated account. HotDocs templates cannot be published on A2J.org. When self-hosting, generating documents from HotDocs templates requires LawHelp Interactive or a HotDocs server.

Spec sheet

Purpose
A2J Author lets non-technical court, legal services, and law school staff build web-based guided interviews that help self-represented litigants complete court documents.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Integrations
The product history describes compatibility with LawHelp Interactive and HotDocs for assembling guided interviews with document templates.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Support
The site provides a technical-problems contact form that requires users to log in or register to view it.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Founded
2004Read 28 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Accessibility
The maker says authors can create Section 508 and WCAG2-compliant interviews when using the latest A2J Viewer and following its accessibility checklist.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Authoring features
The authoring system includes a graphical flowchart map for designing interview dialogue and branching questions.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Browser support
The authoring system supports current Chrome, Safari, and Firefox according to the browser page, which was last updated in August 2019.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Document assembly
A2J Author 6.0 added a template automator for basic documents, and the system includes the A2J Document Assembly Tool for creating templates.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Hosting
CALI offers free hosting on A2J.org for guided interviews and A2J templates intended to help self-represented litigants.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Platform model
The product history says A2J Author 5.0 became a cloud-based web service that runs in a modern browser, while version 7.0 opened the system source under the GNU Affero General Public License.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Privacy and security
The privacy policy says the websites use industry-standard security measures and notes that end users may provide sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and domestic violence history.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Publishing limit
HotDocs templates cannot be published on A2J.org.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Security reporting
The maker accepts vulnerability reports by email and says it does not operate an active bug bounty or reward program.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org
Self-hosting
Organizations can self-host the A2J Viewer, A2J DAT, and guided interviews, but generating documents from HotDocs templates requires LawHelp Interactive or a HotDocs server.Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org

Plans and prices

A2J Author Free free for legal aid organizations, government entities, courts, or other nonprofits for non-commercial use · registered and authenticated account required Read 29 Sep 2026 · a2jauthor.org

Every A2J Author plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Flowchart map structures dialogue and branching questions.
  • CALI offers free hosting for interviews and templates.
  • Organizations can self-host the Viewer, DAT, and interviews.
  • Authors can create accessible interviews using the checklist.

Limits

  • HotDocs templates cannot be published on A2J.org.
  • Self-hosted HotDocs document generation requires another service or server.
  • Free use requires a qualifying organization and authenticated account.

Who it suits

A2J Author is for legal aid organizations, courts, government entities, and other nonprofits building guided interviews for self-represented litigants. It is intended for non-commercial use by qualifying organizations.

Verdict

A2J Author provides a guided-interview builder and document tools for qualifying non-commercial organizations. Check the HotDocs publishing and self-hosting limits before choosing a deployment approach.

Where Specifiction places it

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